At least another 16 new council licensing regimes are due to start this year.

This comes on top of 49 launched in 2025 according to PropTech firm Kamma. 

The firm claims London is the epicentre of licensing, with 28 out of 32 boroughs with at least one scheme in place. 

Kamma chief executive Orla Shields says: “You could drive through North London in a couple of hours and pass through sixteen

different licensing regimes. 

“By the time you’ve learnt one set of rules, you’re already in another borough with completely different requirements.”

The 16 new ones include Islington’s starting next month, with Thurrock, Brent, Leeds, Havering, Salford, and Hackney all launching before summer.

This acceleration has been enabled by the government scraping the need for Secretary of State approval before schemes go ahead. 

London has seen over £13m in fines for licensing offences.

Penalties are set to rise further under the Renters Rights Act, including doubling Rent Repayment Orders to 24 months and introducing a national private landlord database.